Power Rangers: Steam Force

Ch14: Gear Shift: Part 2

In the aftermath of the events of the battle with Myriad, the rangers, including the latest addition to the team, Kivo, the Cog ranger, now stand as the only ones able to defeat the now supersized swarm being that was attacking the city of Vicdon.

The six morphed rangers lined up. While the five Steam rangers called upon their rail riders, Kivo gave the gear shaped wheel on his morpher a spin.

"Watchtower Megazord, Engage!" He called out as the large Clocktower in Vicdon rose up and began configuring into its Megazord form.

As he headed into his now completed Megazord, the rangers began to configure their own Megazord. Despite the lack of a white ranger at this point in time, the mono rider showed up along with the rest and began configuring as normal as the five Steam rangers joined their zords as they formed into the Steam Titan Megazord. Though without a white ranger, their strength would likely be weakened by the unfilled role.

"Alright Myriad, you're going down!" Alex declared as she and the others throttled their controls forward for the hulking machine to advance on the swarming mass before them.

Swinging at the frenzied humanoid hive mind, the fists of the Megazord swatted many of the small insectoids away, creating large gaps in Myriad's body.

"Alright! We should keep going, this thing looks like it's falling apart, I say we finish it before it can do anything about that." Ayana enthused as the rangers took ahold of the controls again.

"Way ahead of you." TJ said as he throttled his controls forward.

The Steam Titan charged forward and kicked with the express rider foot straight through the Terrasoid swarm. When attempting to retract the foot from Myriad however, the insects forming the creature increased in density, creating as close to a solid being as it could and trapping the foot.

"Ugh it's stuck!" Lloyd groaned as he used the tram rider arm to punch at the solid form Myriad, to no avail.

No matter what they tried, the Megazord was stuck and wasn't getting free any time soon. As the rangers struggled to free their Megazord, Kivo headed over with his Megazord that currently wielded the clock hand themed blade.

With a swift swing, the Watchtower Megazord brought the blade down on Myriad , attempting to cut the Terrasoid in half. Myriad noticed this at the last minute and brought its solidified insectoid arm up to meet the weapon in a defensive maneuver.

The blade cut cleanly through the arm and caused the end to fall to the ground where it evaporated into a wispy smoke. The other end of the arm that was still attached to Myriad seemed to have a cauterised wound now as the monster let out a pained wail.

"You'll pay for hurting us like that ranger!" The swarm being roared in agony as he took control of the Steam Titan's momentum, spinning it around and causing the momentum of the Megazord to increase rapidly.

With quick release, Myriad separated, allowing the Megazord to go free. Unfortunately the Megazord had picked up so much speed that it was now barreling toward the Watchtower Megazord. With a crash, both of the metallic giants collided and fell to the ground.

"So much for that." Alex groaned as she held the top of her helmet before she and the others rose the Megazord up.

"I feel like the room's still spinning. Hopefully we don't have to go through that again, I might end up barfing in my helmet." Ayana complained as she tried to get her bearings.

Inside the clock themed cockpit, Kivo arose slowly and pulled out his Cog rifle. The Megazord outside followed his movements, converting the clock hand blade into the large more mechanical version of the rifle the Cog ranger wielded. Firing into Myriad, Kivo expected his weapon to do similar damage to the attack that severed the arm from the Terrasoid.

Instead, the blast shot through and took out a few more of the insects, but they were quickly replaced. As the Steam Titan faced up against, the red ranger in the center of the Megazord's cockpit took note of this and began to formulate a plan to take out the monstrous Myriad.

"Okay everyone, I've got a plan, but you're not gonna like it." The red ranger informed her team.

"Whatever you're planning on doing better work!" Lucas replied as the other rangers in the cockpit nodded in agreement, hesitant about this plan of Alex's.

"It'll work, most likely. Just follow my lead. Kivo, when I tell you, you need to get a headshot on that thing, everyone got it?" Alex explained to them, the five other rangers nodding in understanding of the orders given by the red ranger.

Without another word, the Steam Titan charged forward bringing its fists into contact with the giant Myriad swarm. The arm of the figure grasped ahold of one of the Megazord's arms and tightened around it, while the other arm struck through the body and got caught too as Myriad then solidified into the insectoid mass. As the Megazord struggled to break free, Myriad focused on the Steam Titan.

"Kivo, do it now!" Alex called out as the trapped arms were beginning to be crushed under the shifting weight of millions of small insects.

"Copy that." Kivo acknowledged as he aimed his rifle in turn with the Watchtower Megazord. "Looks like your time, has run out." kivo said confidently as he pulled back the trigger on the Goc rifle and the Megazord followed suit.

A clean shot of energy fired out of the end of the supersized rifle and barrelled into the head of the solid form Myriad, blasting the head of the Terrasoid off and causing it to divide quickly for a moment before solidifying again. The wounded Myriad tumbled around without direction due to the loss of the head. It appeared as if the head held the collective intelligence of the Terrasoid and now the swarm was just a collective of mindless drones unable to fight back.

"Alright! Nice going Alex." TJ cheered as the other rangers gave small cheers of their own.

"I said it'd work, but this fight isn't over yet. Lets finish this swarm off for good!" Alex called out as the five rangers prepared to use their finisher attack.

"Max Speed! Collision Strike! The five called out as the Megazord increased in velocity, quickly lifting off the ground and levelling out before lifting its fists forward. Colliding with the Terrasoid Champion and ravaging the swarm with the two powerful high speed punches before landing as the remnants of the swarm monster exploded.

The Steam Titan Megazord lowered its fists as the Watchtower Megazord lowered the rifle in its hand before returning to its point of origin and transforming back into Vicdon's clocktower.

[Steam Force]

Back within the Terrasoid hive, Queen Nyllia gripped the organic throne she sat upon strongly with her hands as she seethed in anger at the most recent of events. Stinger knelt at the foot of the throne, A hint of fear in his face as he awaited punishment for his failure.

"One thing. I ask you to do one thing and you completely fail to deliver!" Nyllia let out in frustration.

"I, I understand your anger my Queen. I believed that Myriad wouldn't be defeated for sure, but the rangers would be gone now if it wasn't for Kivo. No one expected for him to return with a new morpher and defeat your champion. With the right time and preparation, I will find a way to destroy the rangers, but our army is dwindling. Punish me if you, must but we require more forces before we can return to battle." Stinger tried to explain to the Terrasoid Queen.

Nyllia grunted before rising from her throne. "Very well, if we need more warriors, we shall have them. Succeed and you will make up for this mistake, for the time being."

Stinger gave a sigh of relief at the Queen's mercy at the time. "I won't let you down, on my life."

The Queen smirked as she walked down to where her strongest champion knelt. "Then that will be the price for failure." She informed Stinger with malicious grin on her face, the Terrasoid Champion gulped, fearful of another failure.

[Steam Force]

The six rangers returned quickly to the Operations Station after the battle, their first victory with Kivo as part of the team coming to an end. As they got further inside the ranger HQ, they all came to a halt when they saw Lohan stood there, he seemed to have been waiting for them for a few minutes now.

"Well done rangers, to all of you. After the swarm Terrasoid became a giant, you came together and worked out how to defeat it, with Alex's quick thinking, and everyone's willingness to work together. I hope that there aren't any complications about Kivo being part of your team." Lohan congratulated them as a few of them had an awkward look about them.

"I'm not okay with this. He put Lloyd in hospital and now we're supposed to be all friendly with him. I don't think so." Ayana replied, looking rather irritated with the thought of having to work with the Cog ranger.

"So what if he did that, it isn't like he knew what he was doing, he was tricked, plain and simple. Of course you wouldn't get that Ayana, since you're always looking out for number one." Lucas interjected, angry with the yellow ranger for being so inconsiderate.

"I don't have to deal with this. I'm out of here." Ayana growled and turned away.

Mia looked at the others before walking out of the headquarters too, not giving an explanation for why she was leaving, but the others assumed it was due to a similar reason that Ayana gave.

TJ looked at the remaining rangers and gave a sigh. "I'm fine with working with you Kivo, but it still doesn't sit right with me, what happened to Lloyd. Just give the others time to cool off, they're stubborn. I'll go talk to them, see what I can do about this."

Alex looked at the floor. "So much for being a leader. I can't even keep my team together."

General Lohan placed his hand on the young red ranger's shoulder. "It won't be that last time it happens Alex. Your team have had troubles from the beginning, I'm afraid that Kivo's arrival strained your relationships more and this won't be that last time things get like this. But you're gonna get through this, all of you are."

"Thanks, I know I'm just a replacement for the best choice for red, but if you think I can do it, I might just be able to." Alex said, giving a warm smile.

"Still, maybe I shouldn't be here for now, not until I've made up for what I did to your friend." Kivo said to the red ranger as he stood there, uncertain as to what he should do next.

"In my eyes, you were a victim too you know. And I'm not letting that happen again, so you're staying." She asserted, to which Kivo gave a short nod.

"If that's how you want it. But thanks, for being understanding. I regret everything I did back then, and I appreciate that someone knows how it is." Kivo thanked her, giving a smile to the young woman in red.

"It's no problem. I can relate to having parents that want you to be something else, something you don't want to be." Alex's eyes wandered and became distant as she thought about that.

As the rangers continued their conversation, General Lohan returned to his office, sitting down in his seat, before receiving a phone call the he answered immediately. "Yes?" Lohan asked as he placed the phone to his ear, receiving information as he listened away. "Really? This is surprising, he rarely leaves his estate at the top of the city. I'll work on it right away, he won't be disappointed by what I have to show him." Lohan finished speaking with the caller and placed the phone back.

His head slumped down onto the desk and Lohan gave a stressed sigh as he brought his hands to the sides of his head. 'If the rangers don't come together quickly, It'll be a disaster, we'll lose all chance of stopping the Terrasoids. I just hope they can fix it before he arrives.' Lohan thought as the old General let out a stressed sigh. But for all his hopes, getting this team of rangers working together, was something easier said than done.

|Steam Force|

That is Chapter 14 of Steam force, and a little bit shorter than usual, but primarily because I didn't really have much content planned for this, other than a megazord fight, a few hints at what's to come, the team somewhat fracturing and the small dilemma that Lohan and the rangers are facing if they don't manage to regroup soon, before this mysterious man arrives. There was a little relation between Alex and Kivo there too, just to add a little bit of light to this chapter.

I should have three to four chapters out next week providing all goes well and no procrastination gets the better of me, so look forward to that, and the last chapter of the next week will be the start of a new arc. But the next chapters are going to be more Kivo centered ones as well as him trying to fix the effects of his actions, with a special surprise in store too. Until next time everyone.

Next Chapter: Fractured

Each of the Steam rangers have a different opinion on Kivo and him being the latest addition of the team. Their tensions strained more than ever, the Cog ranger works to try and repair some of the damage he's done. Yet will an attack from the Terrasoids make the situation better, or worse? Find out next time on Power Rangers: Steam Force.